Michelle Topham

It's literally a YOUKU production (along with Daylight Entertainment). Of course they have distribution rights for overseas for their own platform.

All the Chinese streaming services are abysmal with their international promotions as non-Chinese viewers are not as important to them. That will change though, as they are all starting to realize there is a HUGE untapped market outside China, with MASSIVE amounts of money if they actually promoted to them.

Silly they didn't promote Yang Yang's latest drama though. He's an enormous draw, even to non-Chinese viewers.

And because of that, some people will start bootlegging the show as they don't know it's on YOUKU. And when that happens, they usually continue bootlegging. A shame :(

Crazy that YOUKU didn't promote this as being available on their international streaming platform. Was just about to bootleg it as I refuse to pay for Viki (they're scammers to their translators). Well now that made my day but, honestly, Chinese streaming services REALLY need to get with the program when it comes to international viewers.

Will just point out the drama certainly has its flaws but, as ensemble casts go, it would be difficult to find one as perfectly cast as this one. So many superb actors, right down to the most inconsequential sect member, playing so many interesting characters. One of my favorite casts this year.

1000% - Bai Zhong Ying had the most interesting arc, IMO. From pseudo-villain to ultimate hero. A character you were supposed to dislike when he first appeared, and then grew to love the more the story progressed.

Liked his character (and Xiao Shun Yao's performance) the most out of all of them and, for me, the drama has a slew of fabulous characters I really loved. But he was the standout.

Especially compared to Lu Qian Qiao who, by the end, turns out to be an anti-climax. (Loved Allen Ren's performance, but the character is a disappointment as he ends up as more of a shallow, not fully-fleshed out person than someone with real substance).

He's Chinese, so typically outspoken (that's very much the Chinese in my experience -- cut and dried personalities, they don't sugar coat :), and he's obviously very knowledgeable about the Chinese drama industry as he often has information it's difficult for a non-Chinese speaker to find. I don't mind him. He answers questions, and he's just about 100% correct on the factual information he gives.

He doesn't suffer fools gladly, but neither do I, so it's probably why he doesn't bother me :)

It's a 5.2 on Douban (in Douban scores that means "unwatchable garbage", so the Chinese hate it even more than MDL fan girls :)

Fascinating to see Chinese viewers absolutely savaging this on Douban giving it a 5.2 - ie: meaning completely unwatchable garbage.

Meanwhile, I've finally gotten around to watching past Episode 1 and, while I wouldn't say it's unwatchable (yet, as I am only on Episode 4), I'm not surprised about the Chinese ratings as a) it's typical Edward Guo and b) he's a plagiarist (found guilty in court and so has a horrible reputation in China) and so many Chinese fans dislike him immensely. That means his dramas are always going to be down-rated by a certain segment of viewers. Deservedly or not.

By typical Edward Guo, I mean a plot that's all over the place but that makes little sense and a drama that's all style but no substance -- looks beautiful, colors pop off the screen, the fight scenes are phenomenally well choreographed, the performances are stylized and over-the-top (which you either love or you don't), but it's all just shallow and meaningless.

Throw in silly dialogue, convoluted scenarios and all of it a shame as the cast is beyond star-studded, it's epic.

But hey they all look beautiful, right?

Not saying I hate it (yet), as I am enjoying the pretty and the fights. Costumes are beautiful too.

Will just reserve judgement until I'm a few more episodes in, and then will decide if I'll drop it due to "there being no there there", or just enjoy it for the pretty. So far, I'm fine with the latter.

Love, love, love Yue Yang. He was one of my favorite characters in Guardians of the Dafeng -- he's a brilliant actor and has phenomenal comedic timing.

Haven't despised an FL this much in a long time. Weak, useless, spends half her time being thrown around by people much stronger than her and then spitting blood, and the other half lying in bed recuperating. When she's not giving never-ending monologues that is. ( The character is horribly written).

Pathetic and uninteresting from beginning to end. Any character could have done what she did in Ep 39. Hell, they could have sent Lu Qian Qiao's wood spirit friend. At least he is cute and fun.

And the last two episodes are a waste of time. Might as well not exist. Because of that and the weak ending, dropped it to 7.5.

Enjoyed the drama overall, loved most of the main characters, thrilled Xiao Shun Yao had a bigger part than half of the "main cast". Best arc of the entire thing was Bai Zong Ying's - from pseudo-villain to ultimate hero. Huang Yi was brilliant. And Allen Ren nailed his role. He should have had many more scenes.

EDIT: After sleeping on it, I've bumped my score back up to an 8.5. as I can't stop thinking about how perfect the ensemble cast is. One of the few dramas with many interesting and unique side characters all with their own stories, and all of whom are beautifully cast and acted.

Yep. Mine too :)

Every bloody day there's another C-drama dropping that I just HAVE to watch :) Struggling to find the time :)

Really looking forward to Zhao Zhan Adventures. Yang Yang has been one of my faves since The King's Avatar, and the rest of the cast is excellent as well.

Oooh, good to know. And thanks for the reminder, I'd forgotten to put it on my 'Plan To Watch' list.

Looks brilliant as Huang Yi is in one of the main roles, and the two leads -- Ren Min and Ci Sha - are an interesting pairing. I like both actors, so hopefully I'll get to it sometime this week (although Yang Yang's Zhao Zhan Adventures drops tomorrow so... :) (So many C-dramas, so little time :)

Supporting cast is excellent as well!

I rewatched some of Song Zu Er's scenes in The Prisoner of Beauty yesterday for an article I'm writing and her ability to show every emotion on her face, right down to the smallest hesitation or tiniest question, is remarkable.

She was also paired very well with Liu Yu Ning who has similar abilities, so the two together were phenomenal.

You win the prize for the dumbest comment today. Well done you.

I just came off (well dropped at Ep 12 :) My Bargain Queen, and WHR's performance is exactly the same in that. All fake emotion outwardly but she's not feeling any of it inside. Probably why I'm harsher on her than you in this as she seems to have learned little from a drama she filmed 8 years ago and was just as bad in. Basically, she sits on top of a role instead of becoming the character. (Something my drama teacher told me for years when I failed just as miserably in theater roles as, no, I'm not a talented actress either :)

It's odd, as she gave a decent performance in Mysterious Lotus Casebook in 2023, so she is capable, but IMO, she failed in this. Could be for a combination of 3 reasons? -- a) possibly the director? b) the FL is horribly written and c) her own failings.

Overall, I don't think she is lead material, as every other actress in this overshadowed her performance. She seems to manage well in supporting roles but, personally, I would be wary about watching anything else she's in if she is the lead. Huang Yi, on the other hand, definitely deserves more female lead roles :)

Wang He Run's awful performance caused me to drop my rating on the drama from a 10 to an 8. She destroys almost every scene she's in. Throw in that the FL is one of the weakest and most annoying FL's in a C-drama in a long time (after the first 4 episodes she never becomes strong again without collapsing in a bleeding heap and requiring 6 months in bed to recuperate), the entire character could have been gotten rid of to zero detriment.

Especially as there is NO chemistry between her and Allen Ren.

Allen Ren DID have an FL at his caliber in The Demon Hunter's Romance, though. Song Zu Er was exceptionally good, especially in her scenes that required extreme emotion as you could see she actually felt those emotions she was portraying. (Wasn't a particular fan of hers one way or the other until her performances in that and in The Prisoner of Beauty, and she killed it with both of them - her crying scene in TDHR when she realizes her father has died is spectacular).

In almost every scene in this, Wang He Run has nothing going on behind her eyes, so her performance is vacuous. it's just her pretending to feel whatever the character is supposed to feel, with emoting being a skill she does not possess.

And yep, the weak FL to some extent, like you said, makes the plot messier than it needed to be.

Still enjoying the drama immensely, as the writing is good and the other characters are fascinating. Some of the supporting actors have also turned in superb performances, especially the other women (now a big fan of Huang Yi), Xiao Shun Yao and Sun Ze Yuan.

Liked both of them very much. If I had to choose, I would probably choose Love Beyond the Grave, but only by a teeny tiny margin, and that's because Arthur and Dilraba's chemistry was off the charts whereas there is no chemistry between the FL and Allen Ren in this one. (He's amazing, she's not).

EDIT: I haven't watched the last 4 episodes of this one yet, so I may feel differently when I do. But I doubt it. The FL has been the big problem for me throughout every episode since Episode 5.

It will change as I have it on very good authority from a Chinese source that production companies are beginning to realize there is a MASSIVE amount of money to be made from western audiences and other non-Chinese licensing.

And when it does, IMO, we will suddenly see non-Chinese audiences being kowtowed to like never before :)

And yep, I'm with you on the horrible international licensing we often get right now. I subscribe to every platform, but I permanently cancelled my iQIYI subscription when 4 out of 5 major dramas I wanted to watch were NOT available on the platform here in Europe late last year, but WERE available on iQIYI's YouTube channel FOR AN ADDITIONAL SUBSCRIPTION. - Bite me! :)

Their dramas are now the only ones I watch on bootleg sites, as I refuse to pay a subscription with a company that's scamming me. Especially as their subscription is the most expensive of all of them.

Don't worry it will pop up somewhere in your region before/as it airs. Yang Yang's last drama The Immortal Ascension was massively successful, so there's no way this isn't getting a proper international release.

It's one of the few things that piss me off about Chinese dramas. They are often not announced as where they will be streaming internationally until a day or two before. Or they drop on some YouTube channel the day of. And sometimes we don't even get the English title until they actually release.

Case in point this week's The Lead, which got its English title when it started streaming. Super annoying if you write about C-dramas like I do, as I waste so much time trying to find basic information that, it turns out, hasn't even been released. One of these days Chinese production companies/streaming services will take their international viewers as seriously as they take their Chinese viewers.